Bilbao Masters 02: Time Pressure Reigns

9/16/2014 – Today's games might have gone differently in the main stage at Bilbao had the players managed their time differently. Especially unlucky was Vallejo Pons who blundered the game against Anand "basically in one move". Aronian kept the pressure up against Ponomariov, who had a respite of only one move. He missed his chance, again in time pressure, and it looks like a two horse race.

Find the right combination! ChessBase 15 program + new Mega Database 2019 with 7.6 million games and more than 70,000 master analyses. Plus ChessBase Magazine (DVD + magazine) and CB Premium membership for 1 year!

The tournament is being held alongisde the European Club Cup, which we will have reports for separately. The average rating of this event is 2754, making it a category 21.

The event is being scored in the "soccer" format: three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss.

Round Two

Round 02 –September 15, 2014

Aronian, Levon

2804

1-0

Ponomariov, Ruslan

2717

Vallejo Pons, Francisco

2712

0-1

Anand, Vishy

2785

Two hard fought games finished in a strange way as time trouble got to the players. Anand seemed to outplay Vallejo and had the better position, but White's fortress seemed difficult to crack while his passed pawn on c7 was a real nuisance. In a few moves, however, the Spaniard destroyed his own position and it was all over quicker than anyone could have predicted.

The Spaniard resigns after blundering before move 40

And off to analysis with Spanish commentator Leontxo Garcia

Aronian always held a strong advantage against Ponomariov, and although the game was unclear both players made mistakes in time pressure. First Aronian gave away his advantage to a perpetual, but Ponomariov misse it and it was the Ukrainian's turn to err. Aronian did not forgive and wins his first game of the event.

Aronian tries to keeps pace, and is only 2 points behind Anand

Ponomariov is, unfortunately, 0-2 with the
King's Indian Defense and 0-2 in the tournament

Alejandro RamirezGrandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

See also

11/28/2018 – The moment we've all been waiting for! Live games (for Premium members) from the 2018 World Championship match in London. Every two games will be followed by a rest day until Game 12 (if necessary) on November 26th which will be preceded by an additional rest day. All rounds start at 15:00 UT (London time) / 16:00 CEST / 10:00 EST. If needed there would be a rapid tiebreak match on Wednesday, November 28th. | Photos: Patricia Claros

See also

8/27/2018 – Live games and commentary from Saint Louis! Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian tied for first place, while Caruana also tied for fourth place in the Grand Chess Tour standings with Wesley So, forcing a playoff match to be held on Tuesday. | Graphic: Saint Louis Chess Club

Video

Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik liked to play the French and once described it as a 'difficult and dangerous opening'. But in this 60 minutes video IM Andrew Martin suggests an aggressive and little-used idea of the renowned attacking player GM Viktor Kupreichik to counter the French: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3!?. Andrew Martin uses the games of Kupreichik to show why this line could catch many French aficionados unprepared and is very dangerous for Black. Attacking players will love this line and the unusual complications that it promotes.

"Simple yet aggressive!" Enjoy this new exciting DVD by Simon Williams. Let the famouns Grandmaster from England show you how to gain a very exciting yet well founded opening game with the London System (1.d4 d5 2.Bf4).